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Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

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Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#41

Post by johnsimer »

Empact wrote: post #37
keithwhor wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the real science here is Orthognathic Surgery [1]. I mean - I'm not an orthodontist or a surgeon, but once growth has stopped in the palate as a teenager or young adult I'd be skeptical of claims around bone growth or sculpting. Do you have any resources? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthognathic_surgery

I'm 34 and have personally experienced significant changes in my face thanks to orthotropic pressure / mewing, and have the photos to prove it. In addition, my bite has been stable without a retainer, whereas in the past I've had braces twice. My background is I had an undiagnosed mild tongue tie that I discovered a bit over a year ago. I previously couldn’t press my tongue against the roof of my mouth, which led to…

I just started mewing this week.

I can't get the back of my tongue up between my molars if I have my front tongue close to my front teeth. I can like either mew my front tongue or back tongue. Any tips?

Also how long did it take you to successfully be able to unconsciously keep your back tongue up? Right now it's hard for me to do it for 10 seconds bc it's so uncomfortable

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#42

Post by johnsimer »

testplzignore wrote: post #23
keithwhor wrote: post #22

Isn't an alternative explanation just that well-aligned jaws and spaced teeth are selected for via both (A) natural selection, esp. in predator species (well-aligned jaw = more efficient prey capture, chewing, defense) and (B) sexual selection as a holdover result of the first? As in, if ancestors relied heavily on their jaws and, behaviourally, a selective preference for well-aligned jaws and teeth helped favor offs…

The article addresses that with this: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.1330620... Within one generation, the palate size decreased. So that can't be explained by natual selection. Well, unless small jaws killed a huge portion of the population before modern times.

IIRC the orthotropics explanation for this is because we have much easier to chew foods, we chew much less and have poor tongue posture, leading to skinnier inter-molar width (IMW) and jawbones that are more down and in as opposed to up and out

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#43

Post by etxm »

Crooked teeth “run in my family” but mine are pretty straight.

I always attributed it to my obsession with ripping my teeth out as a kid. Weird, I know. I figured that it gave my teeth room to grow.

After reading this I’m curious if it was due to my parents doing baby-led weaning with me. They started it pretty young and always fed me whatever they were eating.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#44

Post by keithwhor »

QuackingJimbo wrote: post #39
Empact wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 34 and have personally experienced significant changes in my face thanks to orthotropic pressure / mewing, and have the photos to prove it. In addition, my bite has been stable without a retainer, whereas in the past I've had braces twice. My background is I had an undiagnosed mild tongue tie that I discovered a bit over a year ago. I previously couldn’t press my tongue against the roof of my mouth, which led to…

Care to link to a good methodology? I've been intrigued by this but there's a lot of conflicting information out there

I would go and schedule an interview with an orthodontist instead of relying on the internet, here. "Orthrotropics" appears to be a registered trademark, which is, at the very least, a yellow flag.

A cursory search on details has broken this down to extractive / surgical vs. non-extractive / non-surgical orthodontics, the latter of which has proven to be effective before the palate and growth plates have fused -- in children.

Talk to somebody you trust with a degree in the field.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#45

Post by dlg »

chansiky wrote: post #19

If you haven't heard of orthotropics, it sounds a bit pseuodoscience-ey, but it attempts to solve the crooked teeth issue by enlargening the jaw rather than through braces. Thus far, I have to say that I think there's some truth to exerting a little pressure to my maxilla/mandible, and if anything I can breathe much better, which for me is a bigger win than getting straighter teeth.

There's a new dental device company working on re-shaping the dental arch called Envisium (https://www.envisium.com/) out of Harvard. Great early results.

(Full-disclosure: I'm an angel investor in them and not a dentist, so only reporting what I've heard from the dentists.)

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#46

Post by mgiampapa »

skc wrote: post #40

Teeth are annoying. Mine are ok, but as I get older I start to notice their deterioration. I've always felt that if there was a part of our anatomy that we should think of replacing completely with an artificial design, it's teeth. We already do so now (at great expense), but it's literally one or two teeth replaced but I'm thinking more along the lines of replacing every single one with something stronger and more e…

This used to be quite common. In Ireland for example back in the 1970s about 30% of the population had no natural teeth whatsoever. It used to be a common thing for young women to have all their teeth pulled and replaced with dentures before being married. It was seen as a desirable trait for en eligible bride to be.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#47

Post by war1025 »

forgotmypw3 wrote: post #16
sashavingardt2 wrote: post #3

You ever wonder when they show a tribe from G-d knows where that had barely any contact with our civilization, how come they've got perfect white teeth and they've got them all? Nothing crooked, nothing missing.

I think a big part of it is that once you have even a minor cavity, eating anything sweet hurts like hell, so people just don't eat sweet stuff when they're older and have lost their baby teeth.

The feeling of a candy bar getting just right into the cracks of your molars is a great motivator for avoiding such things.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#48

Post by war1025 »

forgotmypw3 wrote: post #15

In addition to all the other arguments here (more chewing for bigger jaw development), I have another theory about tooth decay. I think that pre-civilization humans did not eat much sweets past adolescence. This is because, as soon as a minor cavity starts developing, it hurts like hell to put anything sweet in your mouth. Sweet stuff was for children and adolescents, then we just stopped eating it.

I see you're the same person that posted somewhere else, but for what it's worth, I agree that minor tooth pain is a great motivator not to keep eating things that will turn it into major tooth pain.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#49

Post by ne_jo »

social_quotient wrote: post #12

Weston Price talked a lot about this https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/traditional-diets...

iirc also our self-defense body's behaviour acts automatic responses when we "miss" something, as like taking some elements or create them from other organs, if in need (our organs are also bigger than what is needed, iirc also for those "emergency" states). So if missing calcium, the first places where the organism might take it from, are the tooths -iirc-.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#50

Post by QuackingJimbo »

keithwhor wrote: post #44
QuackingJimbo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to link to a good methodology? I've been intrigued by this but there's a lot of conflicting information out there

I would go and schedule an interview with an orthodontist instead of relying on the internet, here. "Orthrotropics" appears to be a registered trademark, which is, at the very least, a yellow flag. A cursory search on details has broken this down to extractive / surgical vs. non-extractive / non-surgical orthodontics, the latter of which has proven to be effective before the palate and growth plates have fused -- in…

I'm interested in mewing for the purported facial aesthetic and breathing benefits
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